Mapping the elemental distribution in archaeological findings through advanced Neutron Resonance Transmission Imaging

Giulia Marcucci; Antonella Scherillo; Maria Pia Riccardi; Costanza Cucini; Quentin Lemasson; Daniela Di Martino

doi:10.1140/epjp/s13360-024-05222-y

2024 Impact factor 2.9

EPJ PLUS - Condensed Matter and Complex Systems

Focus Point on Recent Advances in X-ray and Neutron Imaging for Cultural Heritage and Biomedicine

Open Access

Eur. Phys. J. Plus (2024) 139: 475
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjp/s13360-024-05222-y

Regular Article

Mapping the elemental distribution in archaeological findings through advanced Neutron Resonance Transmission Imaging

Giulia Marcucci¹^,2^a, Antonella Scherillo², Maria Pia Riccardi³, Costanza Cucini⁴, Quentin Lemasson⁵ and Daniela Di Martino¹

¹ Dipartimento di Fisica “G. Occhialini”, Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca and INFN Sezione di Milano-Bicocca, Piazza della Scienza 3, 20126, Milan, Italy
² ISIS Neutron and Muon Source, OX11 0QX, Chilton-Didcot, UK
³ Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra e dell’Ambiente and Arvedi Laboratorio– sede di Pavia, Università degli Studi di Pavia, via Ferrata 9, 27100, Pavia, Italy
⁴ IRAMAT, UMR 7065, CNRS, Université de Technologie Belfort Montbéliard, 90010, Belfort Cedex, France
⁵ Ministère de la Culture/Chimie ParisTech, 14 Quai François Mitterrand, 75001, Paris, France

^a giulia.marcucci@unimib.it

Received: 23 December 2023
Accepted: 28 April 2024
Published online: 3 June 2024

Abstract

This work highlights recent application of energy-selective neutron imaging at the ISIS Neutron and Muon Source, specifically focusing on the development of Neutron Resonance Transmission Imaging (NRTI) at the INES instrument. NRTI is a nuclear technique based on resonant neutron absorption reaction, which combines the sensitivity to elemental and isotopic composition with detailed morphological information, using the epithermal portion of the neutron flux available on the INES instrument at the ISIS facility. Unlike standard neutron radiography and tomography methods, NRTI preserves detailed time and energy information for each detector pixel, enabling enhanced visualisation of elemental distribution inside an object’s volume, with the potential for quantitative elemental analysis. These features combined with the non-destructiveness of NRTI make the method promising for applications in the field of Cultural Heritage, especially when it is employed in a multi-technique approach to provide complementary information about the composition and the crystalline structure of archaeological artefacts. A study related to Heritage Science is presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of NRTI in non-destructive investigations of inhomogeneous artefacts, specifically focusing on the excavation finds related to the first evidence of ancient brass production in Milan, Italy, during Roman times.

© The Author(s) 2024

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